I don't always get to say this, but it's been a fantastic year for movies so far.
Though 2026 has had a fair share of disappointments, I would categorize the first six months to be a successful bunch for cinema. We've not only seen a pair of films, Michael and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, churn out billion dollar grosses, but multiple original films have ushered fans back to the theater. In fact, the domestic box office is projected to exceed ten billion dollars this year, a number that hasn't been reached since before the pandemic.
Still, if there's one standout success of the entire year it has to undoubtedly be the horror flick Obsession. Directed by comedian YouTuber Curry Barker, Obsession tells the story of Bear (Michael Johnston), who wishes for his crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), to love him more than anything else in the world. It works, but Bear's dream soon becomes a nightmare, as Nikki becomes replaced with something else entirely and drives their relationship to its bloody limits.
For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, Obsession has become an absolute phenomenon. Initially, it appeared to be a soft sleeper hit, something not too uncommon for horror films with lower budgets. However, as strong word of mouth strengthened the film's reputation, Obsession continued to thrive, grossing more than it had for three consecutive weekends, a feat not accomplished by any film since Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
While the film has just about ended its theatrical run, Obsession has outgrossed more than the latest offerings from Star Wars, DC, and even the mighty Spielberg himself. As of now, Wikipedia lists it as the 10th highest grossing horror movie of all time and the highest grossing movie ever made for under a million dollars. Regardless of your opinion on this film, it's an undeniable, spectacular success.
So, how did Barker herald such a successful film? Obviously, he gave us a solid original story, something that audiences are clearly hungry for after Hollywood's sequel and nostalgia fixation has overstayed its welcome.
Truly though, Barker capitalizes on every single aspect of Obsession to give us an exciting and oddly funny horror film. From the incessantly shadowy cinematography to a number of solid breakout performances, Barker's film uses every chance it gets to creep you out. I'm particularly fond of it's parallel imagery, especially how patiently it waits to launch into its most skin crawlingly uncomfortable moments.
But while the film is obviously good, there's another way that Barker has ensured his film will be a timeless classic. In short, Barker has delivered the love story for the current generation.
The romance genre has endured for centuries across a variety of mediums, especially within cinema. On the silver screen, a romance story can become swoon worthy, showcasing the depth of human passion and indescribable euphoria of finding someone worth loving more than yourself.
And then there's Obsession.
Unsurprisingly, Barker's film forgoes any classic romantic tradition to tell its subversive love story. From the very beginning, we are given an inherently unromantic premise. Bear is not a typical romcom protagonist, but a shy, well meaning young man who just can't ask his crush out. Instead of working up some courage or making some grand romantic gesture, he resorts to the One Wish Willow, (albeit I highly doubt he actually thought it would work).
But it does, so Bear begins a relationship with Nikki, who we eventually find out no longer has control of her body. Though it's not clear when Bear realizes that Nikki has lost control, (he should've known really early on, but he's not the most emotionally cognitive person), to the audience, this entire relationship grows without Nikki's consent. While Nikki seems obsessed with Bear now, a complete U-turn of how each party initially felt, we know that this is not some tight knit reciprocated romance that we're used to seeing at the movies.
In a way, that's because Obsession is not a romance at all. At least, the film itself doesn't think so.
During one of Nikki's last autonomous moments before her life is destroyed, she talks with Bear about pursuing her dreams as a writer (relatable). She specifically mentions writing a love story, which Bear erroneously calls a romance. She turns perturbed, insisting that a love story and a romance are two entirely different tales, which Bear still seemingly doesn't grasp.
Though romance and love are often used interchangeably, Barker's film insists that there's a fine line between the two. In a romance, there must be a relationship between two (or more) parties, where love grows from mutual affection. The levels of adoration don't have to be equal or consistent, but there must be a reciprocation for a relationship to evolve.
However, a love story only requires for there to be love from one party. Here, a love can be unreciprocated whether it's a true, passionate yearning or just some high school crush. Arguably, a love story doesn't even have to be about another person, as films like Black Swan (2010) and Whiplash (2014) are about the love of their protagonists' craft, (though that's ultimately a whole other circus to deal with).
Obsession then is an unrequited love story disguised as a romance gone wrong. In the beginning, Bear is the one infatuated with Nikki, as he's obsessed with someone he really doesn't know that well. As the film later shows, Bear struggles to realize that Nikki has changed because he doesn't know basic things about her such as her tumultuous relationship with her dad. Though we never find out if Nikki will requite Bear's adoration because he never asks her out, Bear's initial obsession is not reciprocated, showing that his love is more of a childish crush than anything else.
Of course, the tables are then turned, and Nikki becomes the one who is obsessed, to the point that Bear's initial infatuation feels like a molehill of an emotion. Still, Bear and Nikki's relationship is entirely unfounded because Nikki never willingly commits to Bear. They have the semblance of a romance, going through some of the couples' motions like dinner dates and petty fights, but there is no bond or relationship between the two parties. It's only a fantasy that Bear buys into either out of naivety or some inner desire that simply wants this to be real.
As such, Obsession works best as an expose of Gen Z's anxious view of romance. From Bear's perspective, we see a lonely man who's own ineptitude has left him isolated. Many can probably relate to Bear (though only at the beginning I hope), as he has left his loneliness unchecked up until the point that he can only use magic to engage in his relationship. Whether or not you believe that Nikki would have reciprocated his feelings (I think he had legitimate chance), that he can't even ask her out is a clear display of how ruined his mind has become.
Then there's Nikki, who clearly loses control of her own autonomy. The real Nikki, a fun, kind, and vivacious writer, slowly devolves into a halved version of herself, one who can't even function without Bear's presence. It's sickening and gross to watch, but her arch also reflects how many people fear being a relationship will change them.
Your identity is easy to maintain while being independent, but a relationship that requires more from you can feel suffocating with the wrong person. Most people have been in a bad relationship, but at some point, you look in the mirror and question who this has transformed us into, just as Nikki completely loses herself.
By tapping into the loneliness and anxiety that Gen Z has harbored, Barker delivers a film that feels profoundly engaging in its horror. As such, Obsession does not just act as resonate piece for Gen Z, but a deliberate response to the generations of romance culture that predates it.
While it's not really a romance film itself, Obsession is clearly aware of the genre's many traditions and tropes. For instance, let's look at the grand gesture trope, one common in romcoms. Basically, a good romance requires a grand gesture that wins over one party and convinces them to embark on or rekindle their relationship.
Personally, my favorite grand romantic gesture comes from Tim Burton's Big Fish (2003). In the story that explains how young Edward (Ewan McGregor) won over his wife, we see Edward follow young Sandra (Alison Lohman), who is already engaged. She politely declines his advances, but Edward refuses to give up. He gifts her love messages in both her classroom and across the sky before finally realizing that he needs something grander. Alas, Edward unleashes his big gesture, a field full of yellow daffodils, Sandra's favorite flower, which ultimately wins her over.
In contrast to Big Fish's cheery foliage, Obsession's gesture feels slightly less romantic. After spending the night with Nikki for the first time, Bear awakes to find his dead cat on the flower in some romantic arrangement. Nikki can't seem to understand why Bear doesn't appreciate this, but the audience recognizes it as an early red flag. Even more, it's a disturbing twist on romantic gestures in general, one that points out how they can be kind of weird in real life.
While I love the romance of Big Fish, Edward is basically stalking someone that he barely knows. He is obsessed, and though it feels apt in a romance film, it's the kind of behavior that Obsession and Gen Z in general would refute.
Still, to understand Obsession in its relation to the romance genre completely, there are two romantic texts we must analyze, both of which are alluded to by Barker's film.
The first happens to be my favorite film, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). It's a quick allusion, a throwaway line that most would miss from store owner Carter Harper (Andy Richter) about the film's iconic song "Moon River." But as an avid fan, I caught the reference, which I firmly believe is nonaccidental.
For those unfamiliar, Breakfast at Tiffany's is perhaps the finest romance from Hollywood's Golden Age of cinema. In it, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) and Paul Varjak (George Peppard) navigate their fast paced lives in New York City, both of which involve prostituting themselves in some way. Eventually, Paul falls for Holly's undeniable charm, but Holly refuses to relent on her dreams of marrying rich. The pair eventually realize they belong together, culminating in a romantic kiss in the rain and one of Hollywood's greatest endings ever.
However, the part that clearly plays into Obsession comes at the film's end when Paul recites a long monologue to Holly that convinces her to end up with him. Dramatically performed outside a yellow cab, Paul gives Holly a wakeup call, mentioning that she wants to avoid ending up in the cage of a relationship. But he insists that she's in her own cage, before reminding her that people really do belong to each other and throwing a ring at her.
While I love Paul's impassioned speech and the resulting kiss, his views on love are deliberately sent up by Barker's film. Paul doesn't think that being in a cage of a relationship is that bad, but Nikki ends up in an incomprehensible prison of a relationship. The screaming that we hear over the phone attests to unspeakable pain, something far more terrifying than ending up alone.
Also, Paul speaks of Holly's pursuit of independence in a negative light, likening it as its own prison. However, those values seem old fashioned in Obsession's dark lighting, as Nikki would love to establish her own financial security so she can pursue her dream of writing. Sure, Holly's methods aren't exactly the best, but her desire for independence is much more commended in this generation.
Lastly, Paul specifically mentions how romance equates to two people belonging to each other, which sounds romantic on paper. Of course, Obsession gives us the most literal interpretation of what this actually looks like.
After Bear's wish, Nikki completely belongs to him, as she does whatever she can to please him. In a similar way, Bear also belongs to Nikki, as her drastic actions force him to give in to her every demand or else she will hurt someone or herself. By extension, the idea of belonging is actualized as the most toxic relationship imaginable, one where Nikki loses every bit of herself in being owned by Bear.
I obviously love the romantics of Breakfast at Tiffany's, but the ideas of romantic belonging and being in a caged relationship become extremely terrifying when pushed to their truest definitions. Of course, Obsession isn't exactly the most realistic film, but it still shows how the swoon worthy moments of a romance film aren't what we really want.
For the second text, we must direct our attention much farther past Blake Edwards Oscar winning romance film to the good old 1590's. Of course, we're looking at what has often been labeled the greatest romance of all time, William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
For anyone who slept through ninth grade English, Romeo and Juliet is a play about two lovers from rival, warring families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Despite their familial friction, Romeo and Juliet, immediately fall in love after meeting. They will do anything to be with each other, and when complications arise, Juliet decides to fake her own death so she can run away with Romeo.
Unfortunately, Romeo never finds out about Juliet's plan, and kills himself when he believes that Juliet is dead. She then awakes and does the same, resulting in a sad ending that eventually brings peace to both families.
In a somewhat similar way, Barker also ends Obsession with both partners threatening to commit suicide. After Nikki really goes off the rails, she shows up at Bear's with the shopkeeper's gun. She threatens to shoot herself if Bear doesn't say what she wants, which he does, but he gets the gun away from her. He eventually realizes (far too late) that his only way to save Nikki is to kill himself, which he does with the same poison that killed his cat earlier. He dies, and Nikki is left to suffer in the desolate mess that Bear has left her in.
While both partners don't exactly die in Obsession, Barker draws clear parallels to Shakespeare's classic tale. The obsessive love that Nikki has for Bear eventually drives him to suicide, though for different reasons that Romeo and Juliet. While Romeo and Juliet loved each other so much they couldn't comprehend living without one another, Bear kills himself to escape the increasingly horrifying mess he instigates. While Shakespeare's protagonists are bold in their decisions, Bear's final act signifies the cowardice he exhibits throughout the whole film.
Yet, Barker doesn't necessarily commend Shakespeare's romance either. The infatuation that Bear develops for Nikki is similar to what Romeo and Juliet develop for each other. In total, Romeo and Juliet only know each other for four or five days. I understand that Shakespeare must work from within the confines of a play, but his timeframe is just not long enough for a realistic relationship to form.
Instead, Romeo and Juliet are equally obsessed with each other in a similar way to Bear and Nikki, which culminates in their untimely deaths. While Romeo and Juliet at least foster a romance, they are still tethered by a childish obsession. Bear and Nikki are admittedly less romantically presented than their literary inspiration, but they remain a nihilistic parallel that still pokes fun at the exaggeration we imbue our love stories with.
Truthfully, that's what Barker's film does best. With fun scares and unsettling performances, it cheekily tears holes into the romance myths we've been conditioned to enjoy. From romantic ownership to childlike obsession, the sinews of a good romance make for an equally compelling horror within the right hands.
Now, I don't believe that Barker suggests that the entire romance genre is a sham. Though Obsession and Breakfast at Tiffany's seem at odds with each other, they are really love stories stretched into different directions. Both encapsulate certain feelings that romance demands from us, including both the anxious and passionate.
Rather, Obsession thrives in the dark shadowy corner that every other romantic legend has left. Barker's film is an original romantic tale, not by telling an entirely new story (it is based on a Simpsons episode after all), but by conjoining familiar tropes and romantic situations into one pastiche of a horror film. Encapsulating the anxieties of romance that most films never really show, Obsession has grown into a modern classic, one that Gen Z cinephiles will be obsessed with for decades to come.
